


Spotlight

by sheron



Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/M, M/M, Multi, POV Jack Thompson, Post-Canon, Post-Season/Series 02, Publicity, Relationship Negotiation, SSR Confidential 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-04-18 16:15:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14216940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sheron/pseuds/sheron
Summary: Peggy and Daniel and Jack: one moment in the spotlight.





	Spotlight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WhiteLadyoftheRing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteLadyoftheRing/gifts).



> Thanks to [redacted] for looking this over for errors.  
> I hope you enjoy the story!

 

Peggy was going to ruin his reputation.

Jack had thought this once when they'd gotten back from Europe, wondering only how long it would take. He didn't see Peggy mentioning his secret in a mission report, or in a casual conversation, but he expected her to treat him differently and the inevitable questions that would arise. She had something on him, and it was only a matter of time before she used that knowledge to blackmail him into doing things for her.

As it turned out, he'd been a fool to fear it.

Learning who Peggy truly was, the kind of person she was (someone who put her trust in a man that had been nothing but trouble) had been the journey of Jack's life. He sometimes marveled at how knowing just one person could permanently mark you, change you, turn you from a rotten path to something good, something that with the benefit of hindsight Jack knew was worth whatever trouble it brought. She'd trusted him with SHIELD, too, back when it was just an idea.

Falling in love with her had been easy for Jack, and Daniel... Daniel had already been there. After all the years of working with the guy, leaning on him when things got hairy and knowing that Daniel always had his back, loving him was less of a choice and more of a necessity. Less of a fall, it was more of a waking up one day, _knowing_. Despite their surprising enthusiasm at the idea, it took a lot longer to admit to himself that he was willing to pursue a relationship with two people rather than lose them both. Once he did, as if a burden dropping of his shoulders, Jack felt relief over not having to pretend with the two of them any longer. It still felt like a miracle that they made it work for years. But they had.

They'd had an arrangement. Daniel and Peggy kept the house and Jack visited, and nobody had once questioned it if he stayed overly long.

This was all true until SHIELD was suddenly thrust into the spotlight after having averted a national catastrophe, and having (very publicly) save the President's life. Peggy had taken a bullet, and flashbulb photographers had captured her sitting on the scene in a shock blanket, Daniel hovering concernedly over her, while Jack argued with the paramedic on the side. 

Suddenly, reporters were camped out on Daniel's lawn, seeking an interview with Peggy (in her wildest dreams, she'd never thought she would be using her war-time training to slip past reporters). Daniel and Jack had been on the periphery of interest, but Agent Carter, the woman who single-handedly wielded most of the national secrets, was a person of interest. Suddenly, the nation was asking itself: who was this girl who'd climbed the government ranks so rapidly? The heroine who had saved America from disaster. The newspapers created splashy headlines about her British origin, they dug up information on her past with Captain America, and it had read like the back of a romance novel.

Jack tended to laugh about it from the safety of their living room, curtains drawn to exclude the outside world. Peggy tended to throw decorative pillows at his head, while Daniel ran a despairing hand through his hair and worried.

They'd gotten complacent.

One day Mrs. Jarvis called Peggy early in the morning, while the three of them were still in bed, and the one-sided conversation as well as Peggy's expression while she was on the phone had rapidly woken both Jack and Daniel completely.

"What is it?" Daniel lifted his head from where he lay in the middle of the bed fit for three people. He ran a questioning hand down Peggy's bare arm, offering support before he even knew the cause for Peggy's frown.

"They know," Peggy said after she hung up. And then she glanced at Jack darkly, "Someone caught a picture of us in the park. You and I kissing is on the front page."

Jack's stomach sank. Somehow, he knew immediately which park and which picture. He'd been careless. The three of them had had to be discreet through necessity, and Jack had insisted on it as much as anyone. He didn't need his position questioned by others because he was in an unconventional relationship. As frustrating as it was to act casual around the two people who meant the most, and as much as Daniel often said that it wasn't fair to Jack in particular, having to hide such a large part of his life, Jack had accepted that it would always be that way. He was happy enough to have Peggy and Daniel in his life on any terms, he wasn't about to rock the boat. 

Except that one time last week, early May, they'd been out in the sunny meadow, and Peggy had decided to walk barefoot through the lush green grass and somehow talked Jack into it as well. It was the kind of perfect weather that rarely stayed for long ― neither too hot nor too cold, and they were in the secluded area with hardly any passersby. Peggy had mentioned something about girlhood memories of a meadow just like this in London, kicked off her heels and sunk her toes into the grass. Jack had let out what he would never admit was depressingly close to a giggle, and followed by removing his own shoes and socks. The grass was luxuriously soft, it was like a carpet under his feet, and he had to admit to enjoying the silky sensation against bare skin. Daniel had demurred on account of his prosthesis, and Jack together with Peggy had spent a good ten minutes arguing with the man, trying to convince him that it was worth the temporary inconvenience. Jack had offered to take Daniel's weight, if the difference in height for his naked foot would end up changing the angle for his prosthesis to something uncomfortable. Eventually, Daniel admitted that he couldn't fight both of them, an amused twist to his mouth as he surrendered and took off his shoe and sock.

Jack must have been drunk on their success, and... it was just so peaceful out there. He'd taken a brief glance about and didn't see anyone, so he went and planted one on Daniel, a quick dry kiss that left Daniel blinking stupidly while Jack grinned at him. Afterward, he'd had to kiss Peggy on principle, and she'd wrapped her hand around his neck, pulling him in.

A moment in time, that was all it took. They'd moved on, and the short stroll through the grass was almost forgotten between them now, but when Peggy mentioned the picture and the park, Jack's mind had gone back to it immediately. It was the only time they'd ever kissed in public. He had colossally fucked up, and the look on Daniel's face confirmed it. Peggy was tougher to read.

Jack looked at her, wide-eyed. "I'm sorry."

"What?" Peggy was putting on a silk robe, the curves of her body quickly hidden from view. She wasn't shy, but she enjoyed looking entirely put together even for the two of them, in their bedroom, so once out of bed she dressed immediately and efficiently. She glanced his way. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

"It's my fault they have that picture." He must have lost his mind for a moment, drunk as he was on the feeling of happiness, on the miracle of being in that moment with the both of them, and with nothing to do but live. 

Jack rolled out of bed and went to dress himself, cursing under his breath.

"Doesn't matter," Daniel said cautiously from the bed, where he was holding himself up by the elbows, looking between the two of them. He had a white t-shirt on but not much else, the covers pooling artfully across his midsection. 

"Doesn't matter?!" Jack was aware his voice had risen, couldn't really do much about it as agitation thrummed through his veins. "Do you know what they're probably writing right now? Famous Agent Carter Living with Two Men." He stared desperately at Peggy. "You know how that'll play."

Peggy quirked an eyebrow. Underneath her steely stare, Jack could tell she was upset and shoving it aside for their sake. "You should be more concerned with your reputation, Jack. It's just as likely an article may allude to you and Daniel being involved."

And he _was_ , he was immediately worried about that, even as he hated himself for it. But in the end, he hadn't had to work nearly as hard to get to where he was as Peggy had. Easy come, easy go, Jack thought grimly. If there was something worth going to prison for, it was the years he'd spent with the two of them. Nothing could convince him otherwise. Even so, he knew that a picture of him and Daniel was more than just a scandal, the laws being what they were.

"In fact, it's in our best interests if they think I'm leading the both of you on," Peggy said with a tone of finality. She smoothed out her hair, and quirked a brow. "There is no law against that." 

He knew what she wasn't saying: all that would suffer would be Peggy's reputation.

If they played it a certain way, Jack and Daniel would both get away scot-free.

They dressed in silence.

Daniel had the pleasure of going outside to retrieve that morning's newspaper through the throng of reporters and blinding flashbulbs. The cover was of Daniel grinning as he looked on, while Peggy and Jack were locked in a kiss. The kiss itself had only lasted a few brief moments, but Peggy's hand around Jack's neck, and their comfortable expressions on the photograph made it look like they were lip-locked for a small eternity. Jack felt ashamed that he was glad they hadn't captured his kiss with Daniel, seconds earlier.

Jack put his head on his hands, feeling about five years old, with his hand caught in a cookie jar. How could he have been so stupid?

"We could say it was a dare," Daniel floated the idea while he made breakfast. The mood in their small kitchen was grim. Peggy was idly rotating a spoon in her tea, staring out into the middle distance with a thousand-yard stare. She startled when Daniel spoke. He added, settling into a chair next to her, "They know you're friends. Maybe we explain it as a dare one of you lost?"

Peggy's expression turned considering. "That could work."

"There would still be rumours," Jack answered him softly. "People looking at us differently." Even if 'lost dare' was the official line, someone would still read more into the kiss, and who could blame them. The people at work, they would look at Peggy more carefully.

"We'd have to be cautious for a while," Daniel said. "The important thing is making sure this doesn't affect our jobs." He didn't say that for all the unfairness of it, the burden would be Peggy's. She had to go to work tomorrow and face people who reported to her with _that_ splashed out in public for all to see. In the end, as long as the public thought he and Peggy had a brief fling, Jack would get off the easiest of the three. Daniel would look like he'd allowed another man to poach what was his. The worst that Jack would get would be a few dirty remarks and slaps on his back. He could see it in his mind. He hated knowing exactly how easy it would be.

Still, Daniel was on the right track. Maybe not about making it a dare, but shifting the responsibility from Peggy somehow. Maybe Jack had pressured her. If they played it right, they could minimize the fallout. Jack could go traveling on business for a while, and disappear from the public eye until things settled down. He wouldn't visit. He had to do his best to keep upheaval away from Peggy and Daniel's lives. He'd made that choice a long time ago, Jack thought, feeling a dark expression settle on his face. It was what he had to do. He believed that. He wanted to.

"No," Peggy said quietly from her place at the table.

"No?" Jack arched a brow. She faced him baldly, lifting an eyebrow of her own.

"No, we're not going to say it was a lost bet or pretend that it doesn't matter," Peggy's voice was conversationally calm. "I didn't get to where I am in life by hiding. I'm not about to start now."

"But―"

"I am prepared to use all of my influence. I am determined to ensure this doesn't adversely affect either of you. If I have to, I'll go directly to the President." A smile stole across her face. "He owes me now. I did save his life."

"With great foresight, as it turns out," Daniel said, a rather impish note entering his voice. He looked and sounded like he liked the idea. Jack couldn't believe this nonsense. Daniel said,

He looked flabbergasted between the two of them. "You two are taking this remarkably well."

"Jack," Daniel's voice was soft. He came over and put a hand on Jack's shoulder, its warmth searing even through the shirt Jack wore. For a moment, Daniel stared at Jack, with infinite patience in his dark eyes and didn't say a word, as if he expected Jack to read his mind. There was something in that gaze... something infinitely generous.

"What Daniel is trying to say―" Peggy finished in his stead, "―is that we _picked_ this road. All of us. Together. And we'll face this together, too."

Jack wished his chest didn't clench over her words.

"Think about this," he tried to argue, voice rough.

"I thought about it before I kissed you for the first time," Peggy said. "Nothing since has changed my mind."

"Me neither," Daniel said. He smiled, "Although for our first time, not a whole lot of thinking was involved, as I recall it." He winked. Jack flushed despite himself. That night had been...impulsive. They brought out that side of him, the part of him that wanted to rush in where angels feared to thread. The part of him that wanted to believe in the eventual happy ending, despite everything he'd seen. That was just what being with Peggy and Daniel was like. Something he'd once thought impossible.

"So that's decided then?" Peggy asked, the implication in her tone that the call had been made. "I'll say it was us being us, and let the rest fall where it may. We're not going to let this change us." She smiled, as if she looked forward to that fight, too. "This isn't something to compromise on. Not for me."

Jack looked at her, then at Daniel, who still had a hand pressed to his shoulder in support, squeezing it roughly once as if trying to imbue Jack with his faith. It was working.

Just his luck: he'd fallen for the two most bullheaded people on the planet.

Jack smiled.

 

**Fin.**

 


End file.
